Cold Blanket of White
by Prince Bartholomew
Summary: After the incident with Iblis, Silver the Hedgehog is now living in the past, admiring the world's beauty.  He's never known weather patterns besides ash and embers.  So what's this cold white stuff?


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Sonic or any of the official Sonic characters mentioned in this fanfic. I own one character, though.

**A/N:** I don't really know how this idea came to me…I guess it's because I've seen how Silver's world had turned out to be due to some events in the past, and how he's probably never seen any other weather patterns besides fire and ash…and possibly rain. Enjoy.

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><p>When white powdery substance started falling from the sky, Silver the Hedgehog watched in awe at the beauty of it from his window; the only substance he was used to seeing fall from the sky were ashes and embers from the time his world had been devastated by a fire entity known as Iblis. But since he started living in the past, he enjoyed the view of clear skies and the occasional rainstorm. The Living Flame had been sealed away in a previous adventure, so the future – his world – was safe and he could now enjoy the beauty that he'd never seen.<p>

The white bits falling to the ground were interesting, but when he realized that it seemed to stick on the ground and give the area a different look, the curious hedgehog wanted to explore. He grasped the bottom of the window and opened it – though he regretted this action immediately when a gust of cold air greeted him, forcing him to close the window seconds afterward – and realized that, yes, he needed to know what this white stuff was called, as well as its purpose.

But he knew that he couldn't go outside if it was cold; though he had fur to keep him warm, it wouldn't help much if he wanted to explore the city to see more of this white substance. He'd need something else to add to his body warmth…maybe one of those heavy jackets that Amy had bought for him during one of her shopping sprees would suffice? He glanced at his closet uneasily – he didn't really wear clothes the way Amy or the humans did, and, as such, didn't have much of a wardrobe to call his own – but strode over anyway and grasped the jacket in question.

…_I'm supposed to wear this?_

While the jacket wasn't pink – thankfully, since he wouldn't have even touched it if it had been – it was still a bit awkward for him to wear something like this, since he never really needed to wear anything besides his shoes and gloves. With a sigh, he put it on and zipped up the front.

_Well, this should be okay._

With that, Silver rushed outside to explore, remembering to lock the door behind him.

-x~x~x-

_Wow…_

Silver flew across the city, taking in the sight of the city being covered in a white blanket. The jacket was helping him keep warm, but he had been forced to fly around to get anywhere since the white stuff on the ground had gotten up to his knees. The other citizens of the city had already retreated into their homes, so it was oddly quiet, but the psychic hedgehog didn't mind.

When he got to the park, he stopped. The trees were covered in this white blanket, too, but this added to the beauty of it. Everything here seemed to sparkle and shine, and Silver found himself sitting on a bench that hadn't been covered completely.

_This stuff is wonderful! But what is this called? It's soft, but cold…_

The hedgehog dipped a hand into the blanket of white, picking up a handful of it and molding it with his hands until he made a sphere. He stared at the cold sphere – he could mold this cold substance and it would keep the shape he gave it? – wondering why he hadn't seen this stuff before.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flicker of movement in the park. Dropping the sphere, he moved both hands in front of him, trying to detect what was here with him. Whatever it was, the movement was unusual; it seemed to be rolling around at the bottom of the large blanket of white. This was both puzzling and troubling. While it could be someone – or something – tunneling through the white stuff, it could also be someone trapped under there, right?

_I'm not taking any chances._

Silver waited until the movement was close enough before he grabbed it with his psychokinesis and pulled it up. But he wasn't prepared for what he'd found. As soon as he'd pulled it out and up to eye level, he nearly dropped it out of surprise.

What appeared to be a little light blue duck stared back at him, equally stunned at this sudden change of the situation. The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours before the duck gave a weak smile.

"…Hi."

Though still a bit baffled, Silver returned the smile, though a bit nervously.

"Hi."

He hadn't expected anyone else to be out here, much less for anyone to be trapped under the white stuff.

"Are you okay?"

The duck stared back at him, confused.

"…Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you were underneath that white stuff, so I thought you were stuck…"

Though still in Silver's psychic hold, the duck managed to shake its head.

"Nope, I was rolling around in the…did you just call it 'white stuff'?"

The duck was now looking at the hedgehog with curiosity. Silver looked a bit embarrassed, but nodded.

"I, uh…haven't seen anything like this before, so…"

"You haven't seen _snow_?"

The duck's childish voice had cracked in surprise, startling Silver a bit.

"…Well, where I came from, we didn't have…snow…"

The duck seemed to be sad at this admission, realizing that the hedgehog before him was new to this.

"So you've never…"

Silver watched as the duck perked up a bit, smiling.

"Since you've never seen snow, you've never played in it…so why don't you play with me?"

"…Play?"

The duck nodded.

"Yup! The people here stay inside when it's cold like this, so I don't have anyone to play with when it does snow. But…"

The duck squirmed a bit.

"…You'd kinda have to put me down first."

Silver lowered the duck and released his psychic grip. The duck landed on top of the snow, apparently too light to sink into it, and rushed over to grab the hedgehog's hand.

"Come on, let's play!"

-x~x~x-

The time passed by quickly as Silver played games in the snow with his new acquaintance. The duck had taught him some tips about snowball fighting – in case he'd need it against his friends, especially against someone like Sonic – as well as simple stuff like creating 'snow angels', which was rather amusing.

After a while, the duck had looked at him and declared a break time, and the two of them had walked back to the bench and sat together.

"So what do you like most about the snow?"

Silver glanced at the duck, who was now looking up at him expectantly.

"…I guess I like the beauty it creates."

The duck looked at him, a bit shocked, but a small grin crept onto his beak.

"You're the first person to say that."

Catching the confused hedgehog's expression, the duck motioned to the area around them.

"People generally don't like the cold, and I hear a lot of people calling snow a nuisance. Some people like to play games and roll around in it, and others like to snowboard or ski, but I've _**never**_ heard anybody say that it creates beauty."

The duck now had a big grin on his beak, seemingly proud of something.

"You're a unique person, mister."

Silver smiled a bit before frowning.

"I'm not old enough to be called 'mister'."

The duck's eyes flashed briefly with a mix of curiosity and playfulness.

"Well, then, I believe an introduction is in order."

Silver held his hand out, smiling.

"I'm Silver."

The duck grasped the hedgehog's hand and shook it.

"My name's Zero."

The two glanced back at the park, noticing that the streets around them were in the process of being shoveled and that there were people walking around now. The duck, Zero, hopped off the bench and scooped up a large amount of snow. Silver looked at him curiously.

"So, you're a psychic, right?"

Silver looked a bit startled, but nodded.

"Yeah…"

Zero turned to look at the confused hedgehog.

"Well, I don't want to offend you, but since you're a psychic, you can shoot energy from your hands, right?"

Silver nodded.

"Well, then, I got one last trick to show you."

Zero stood up, a large snowball in his mitten-covered hands. Silver stared, wondering what the duck would do.

"After I throw this snowball up into the air, I'd like you to hit it with a medium-powered energy blast when I ask you to. Is that okay?"

The hedgehog nodded. Zero smiled, then looked up, seemingly calculating…before he threw the large snowball high into the air.

"Now!"

Silver quickly shot the large ball of snow when it reached the height of the throw, causing it to explode in a stunningly beautiful shower of sparkling powder. The hedgehog stared in awe at this new spectacle, vaguely aware of nearby onlookers clapping at the performance. He heard Zero walk up next to him, and the duck chuckled a bit.

"Pretty neat, huh? Just don't do it too often or it'll lose its magic effect."

Silver looked at the duck with an expression of…guilt?

"Zero, you've taught me so much and I haven't given anything back."

The hedgehog caught the little duck by surprise when he grabbed those smaller mitten-covered hands, looking at him with determination.

"Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

Zero stared at the hedgehog in disbelief. After a minute, the duck grinned.

"Well, you can enjoy the rest of the day with your friends, for starters. Enjoy the snow before it melts, you know?"

When the duck noticed the hedgehog's look of confusion, he laughed.

"Silver, you've already given me something. Your appreciation for snow made me happy, and that's all I need."

"…Wait…you're not a _personification_ of _snow_, are you?"

Startled, the duck blinked at that before smirking.

"Not at all; I just have a very weak form of cryokinesis."

Before Silver could reply, he heard someone else calling his name.

"Hey, Silver! Isn't this great? I bet you've never seen snow before, huh?"

The hedgehog turned to see a familiar pink hedgehog running towards him.

"Uh, actually, Amy…"

Amy Rose, also known worldwide as _**Sonic the Hedgehog's**_ _**number one fan**_ (and if anyone disagreed or argued, they would get a giant hammer to the face), grabbed his hand and started to pull him away from the park.

"Come on, everyone else is going to be at Vanilla's house for a snowball fight! Then we can have some hot chocolate afterwards and…"

_Didn't she see me talking to Zero?_

Silver looked around, realizing that the duck was watching the two from a distance, waving goodbye at the departing hedgehogs with a genuine smile on his beak. Silver waved back, knowing that memories of the little duck's lessons would stay with him forever. He hadn't expected to meet someone who would teach him about the games and techniques in the cold whiteness, nor had he expected for the duck to not laugh at him for his lack of knowledge on it. Still, as Silver was pulled further and further away from his new friend, he wondered if he'd ever see Zero again.

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><p><strong>AN:** So, what did you think? Before you ask, _Cryokinesis_ is a lesser-known type of psychic ability. _Pyrokinesis_ is probably better known, especially since Blaze the Cat has that ability (as well as Bean the Dynamite, to a lesser extent), but _Cryokinesis_ is basically the ability to control ice or snow.


End file.
